OPTA FOCUS – STATS AND FACTS AHEAD OF CAGLIARI V NAPOLI
Anticipation is at fever pitch ahead of Matchday 4 of the 2024/25 season. Following the international break, Serie A is back in action this weekend and Antonio Conte's Napoli are heading across to Cagliari, to play a match in a stadium full of potential pitfalls. Clear evidence of such pitfalls comes from the last time the Azzurri played at the Unipol Domus, with victory slipping away at the death due to an equaliser from Zito Luvumbo in the 96th minute. However, in the very same minute of a match Napoli sealed their last victory, against Parma, giving the club and fans a huge boost. What’s more, taking a look at the wider picture regarding Napoli’s most recent away matches in Sardinia, the Azzurri have put together an unbeaten streak of 13 games, consisting of eight wins and five draws in the league. Cagliari's last victory at home against Napoli in Serie A dates back to 19 April 2009, a 2-0 triumph back when Massimiliano Allegri was at the helm. In addition to breaking their home jinx against the Neapolitans, the Sardinians also want to avoid recording another four-game winless run at the start of a Serie A season for the third time in a row, having commenced 2021/22 and 2023/24 in similar fashion.
CAGLIARI, A RESOLUTE OUTFIT AT THE BACK
In the first three matchdays of this season Cagliari have achieved little in terms of attacking output. In fact, the Sardinians have scored only one goal so far in the competition, through Roberto Piccoli, against Como in Matchday 2. Cagliari lead the ranking of balls recovered in Serie A this season: 140, one more than Antonio Conte's Napoli. Another statistic that reflects the fighting and never-say-die spirit of the islanders is the one related to interceptions: 26 so far this season, below only Udinese (30), Lecce and Venezia (both 27). The Sardinians’ defensive efficacy is also evident in the fact that they have only conceded two goals so far (only Juventus have done better, having kept three clean sheets) and have blocked 16 opponent shots, only behind Parma (20).
GAETANO FACES OLD TEAM NAPOLI, LUVUMBO AND PICCOLI ATTACKING DUO
The Serie A calendar sometimes offers interesting reunions for some players. This is the case for Gianluca Gaetano, a product of the Napoli academy who moved (for the second time) to Cagliari on the last day of the transfer window. Gaetano left Campania to head to Sardinia, a journey the youngster already undertook last January, where he hit the ground running. The former Napoli midfielder scored two goals in the first two games he played as a starter in Serie A for the Rossoblu shirt during his first loan spell. Zito Luvumbo scored the goal which humbled Napoli in the last minute of the corresponding fixture last season, just as the visitors thought that they would claim all three points. That was also the last of the Angolan's four goals in Serie A, back on 25 February. Luvumbo is an important player for Cagliari – in 2023/24 he was involved in their most goals in the season (nine - four goals and five assists), took the most shots (56, of which 17 were on target, another record) and completed the most dribbles (35). Leading the line with the African will presumably be Roberto Piccoli, the man behind Cagliari’s only goal scored so far this season. The 23-year-old aims to carve out a leading role for himself in the Sardinian team, having had to settle for an impact substitute role with his previous teams. Three of the last four goals the former Lecce player has scored in Serie A came when playing as a starter, while eight of his first ten goals in Serie A had come as a substitute.
